Universal AdvancedMC™ processor module for a wide variety of MicroTCA™ and AdvancedTCA® applications

Eching, Germany, June 30, 2011 – Kontron introduced today its new universal single-width AdvancedMC™ processor module AM4120. This board is the first member of a new Kontron AdvancedMC™ product family with the Freescale™ QorIQ processors. The new AdvancedMC™ family is targeted to cost sensitive applications as well as powerful data plane and control plane applications. The universal Kontron AM4120 offers cost sensitive AdvancedTCA® and MicroTCA™ system designs long-term availability, support of various fabrics and an extraordinary performance-per-watt ratio.

The Kontron AdvancedMC® processor module AM4120 is equipped with the Freescale™ QorIQ P2020 Dual Core processor with up to 1.2GHz and based on the Power Architecture® e500. Application reliability is ensured with features such as the redundant universal bootloader U-Boot and persistent memory for cycle data storage. Furthermore, a dedicated Module Management Controller (MMC), which supports basic IPMI commands, is used for board management, enabling operators to monitor the status of the AdvancedMC™ module in the system, simplifying system management and improving availability. The Kontron AdvancedMC™ processor module AM4120 also offers increased longevity due to Freescale’s processor availability until at least 2018, careful component selection and a Micro SDHC card socket that is not impacted by regular flash discontinuation.

For flexible data exchange, the Kontron AM4120 features 4x SERDES lines routed to AMC ports 4 – 7, which are configurable either as PCIe (root complex or end point) or SRIO ports (host or agent), for applications which require close programming to the chip without extensive overhead. This makes the Kontron AdvancedMC™ processor module AM4120 a flexible solution in various system configurations. Additionally, it provides several different boot options for the OS including from an easily exchangeable Micro SDHC card to simplify updates, a NOR Flash or the soldered NAND Flash for rugged applications. For further flexibility in inter- and intra system communication, the Kontron AM4120 supports up to 3x GbE channels which are routed to AMC port 0 plus 2x RJ45 interfaces at the front or routed to AMC ports 0 and 1 plus one port at the front. Depending on the requirements of the application, the Kontron AdvancedMC™ processor module AM4120 can be used in system configurations with or without MCH. This helps to further reduce development costs and speeds up system development in areas such as industrial automation, medical, networking, telecom, military transportation and avionics. For rugged applications, the Kontron AM4120 is available on a project basis for the extended temperature range.

Kontron offers various MicroTCA™ and AdvancedMC™ systems for the new AdvancedMC™ processor module. For example, the Kontron OM6060 can be used as an entry level platform for operating the Kontron AM4120 with PCIe and SRIO point to point fabrics in combination with the Kontron AM4901 basic MCH which provides Ethernet connectivity to all AdvancedMC™ slots. In this system, the Kontron AM4120 can be combined with I/O cards, DSP cards and different processor boards.

The Kontron AdvancedMC™ AM4120 supports Bootloader U-Boot, IPMI, VxWorks 6.9 and Linux LTIB and will be available in sample quantities beginning in July.

For more information about the Kontron AdvancedMC™ processor module AM4120, please visit: http://www.kontron.com/products/boards+and+mezzanines/advancedmc/processor/am4120.html

For more information about AdvancedMC™ modules, please visit:
http://www.kontron.com/AdvancedMC

For more information about MicroTCA™, please visit:
http://www.kontron.com/microtca